Belt-shifter.



No. 799,669. EATENTED SEPT. 19, 1905.

I. s. NEWTQN.l BELT SHTETEE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 26,1905.

mouw e. Gamm co, Pnorommacmvnms. wAswnnmu u c.

WITNEESES:

UNITED STATES.

PATENT oEEIoE.

ISAAO S. NEWTON, OF SYRAOUSE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO FRANKCARLTON, OF SYRAOUSE, NEW YORK.

BELT-SHIFTEB.

VSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented sept. 19, 190'5.

Application filed June 26, 1905. Serial No. 267,107.

To LU whom t mar/y concern:

Be it known that I, ISAAC S. NEWTON, of Syracuse, in the county ofOnondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Belt-Shifters, of which the following, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear,` and exactdescription.

This invention relates to improvements in belt-Shifters, and refers moreparticularly to that class in which a belt is shifted from a revolvingpulley onto a stationary support containing a series of rollersconcentric withy the pulley-axis, so that the belt is at rest when notin use.

I am aware that `it is not new to employ rollers upon a stationary framelocated at the side of a pulley upori which the belt may be shifted fromthe pulley, such a device being shown in Patent No. 430,345, J une 17,1890, Jackson et al.

In many instances it is necessary to locate .a series of pulleys uponthe same shaft in close proximity to each other, and therefore the spaceavailable for shifting the belt or beltsis necessarily very muchrestricted, and it would be quite impossible to operate alshifting-lever or shifting mechanism like that seen in the patent abovereferred to, and while my invention is similar in some respects l to thedevice set forth in 'this patent, yet I have sought to simplify thegeneral structure of the belt holder and shifter and at the same time toadapt it for use on shafts where several pulleys are arranged in closeproximity.

My object, therefore, is to produce a vertically-adjustable belt-hangerand to provide it with a simple shifting mechanism all the parts ofwhich are located within substantially the combined width of the pulleyand .belt-hanger, thereby avoiding the use of hand shift-levers andallowing the shifting mechanism to be operated even when the pulleysare` arranged close together upon the shaft.

It is well understood that in shiftinga belt from a fixed hanger or froma loose pulley onto a revolving tight pulley it is only necessary topartially engage the edge of the belt with the revolving pulley,whereuponl the belt will be automatically drawn onto the pulley as soonas the belt begins to move, the reasons for which are clearly understoodby those skilled in the art of belt-power transmission, and it willtherefore be unnecessary to further explain the reasons why the beltwill assume its proper place upon the revolving pulley. On the otherhand, it is more difficult to shift the belt from a revolving pulleyonto a fixed belt-hanger, and one of the objects of my invention is toprovide automatic means for locking the belt-shifting mechanism inposition to hold the belt on the revolving pulley and to provideadditional means operating automatically upon the shifting mechanisms toshift the belt from therevolving pulley onto the stationary belthanger.

Other objects relating to the specific construction of the belt hangerand shifter will be brought out in the following description.

In the drawings, Figures l and 2 are respectively a face view and endview of my improved belt hanger and shifting mechanism, showing also inFig. l a shaft and tight pulley thereon in its proper relation to thebelt-hanger. Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3 3, Fig. l. Figs.4 and 5 are sectional views taken, respectively, on line 4 4, Fig. 1,and 5 5, Fig. 2.

y In order to demonstrate the practicability of my invention, I haveshown a revoluble shaft 1,;upon which is mounted a tight pulley 2,carrying anbelt 3, to which motion is transmitted by the vrevolvingpulley 2. I haveshown part of a line-shaft l, which is usually locatednear the ceiling of a room, and I have therefore shown a belt-hanger 4assuspended from the ceiling 5 by suitable brackets or hangers 6, havingdepending arms 7, which are provided with vertical slots 8 for receivingone or more clamping-bolts 9. The hanger 4 consists, essentially, of asubstantially semi-y circular malleable or cast-iron segment 10, havinga semicircular row of laterally-projecting studs 11, upon which aremounted tubular sleeves or rollers l2. Y

T he semicircular segment l() is located about the width of the beltdistant from one end of the pulley 2, concentric with the axis of thethe shaft 1 and of substantially the same diameter as the pulley 2, thelower side of said segment being open to permit it to be readily placedupon the hangers 7, and in order that it may be more firmly held inposition the segment is provided with recesses 13, which receive andclosely fit against opposite edges of the depending arms 7, said segmentbeing IOO Yshaped guide 20, which extends across the V drawn in onedirection. against the action of the opposite direction for .shiftingthe belt the anchor 25.. the opposite direction manually by means offurther held' in place by the bolts 9, which enter threaded apertures insaid segment,l

lthe slots 8 permitting slight vertical adjust- ,duced threaded end 14,which is inserted through its corresponding aperture in the segment 10and is held in place by the clamping-nut 16. The opposite end-s ofVthese studs 11 adjacent to the pulley 2 are each provided with a roundhead 17 to permit the belti'tol ride easily upon the rollers 12, whichare mounted upon the studs 11 between the segment 10 and head 17, said'rollers havingtheir outer faces disposed in a semicircular planesubstantially coincident withl the face of* the pulley.

One end of the segment 10 is extended downwardly some distance belowtheother end and is provided with a laterally-projecting boxface ofthepulley just inside of the belt for receiving and supporting a hollowshift-bar 21, havingshifting-arms 22 projectingth-rough a slot 23 in oneside of the guide-case 20' for engagingopposite edges of the belt 3', asbest seen in Fig. 3. Thisv guide-box is off suf-- ficient length topermit the shift-bar 21 to bemoved from a position in front of thepulley to a position in line with the rollers 12,4 so that the belt mayreadily be shifted from the:

, pulley to the belt-hanger, and vice versa..

The means for automatically drawing the the belt from the pulley 2l ontothe rollers 12f preferably consists of a coil-spring 24%,. arrangedwithin the box-guide 20, and shift-bar 21, and having one end anchoredto a pin 25 on one end of the box-guide 20', and its other secured tothe shift-bar 21, the springv being tensioned, sol as tol draw theshift-bar toward rlhis shift-bar 21 is moved in,

a flexible wire or cable 27, having a fingerring -28 at one end, and itsother end i's'passedf over an idler 29 on the free end of the tubularbox 20 and attached to the pin or shoulder 26.. lt will now be seen thatby drawing down upon the cord or cable 2T, which is located? at one sideof the belt,y the shift-bar 21 is the spring 2l for shiftingthe beltfrom the rollers 12 onto the. pulley 2 and that the spring24 operates todraw the shift-bar in from the pulley 2 onto the rollers 12. This is aparticularlysimple means for shifting thebelt back and forthandiobviates any liability of accidentally shifting the beltfrom thefixed hanger to the pulley.

The means for holding the shift-bar in position to; hold the belt ontothe pulley consists of a gravity pawl or arm 30, which is pivoted E atbltoy the top of the tubular box 20 and has its depending portion ridingin a suitable slot 32 in the adjacent side of the tubular box 20, so asto fall in behind the end of the shift-bar Y 21 nearest the anchor 25when said shift-bar is drawn to its extreme outer position, as seen inFig. 3, thereby holding the shift-bar against the action of the spring24. p

When it is desired to shift the belt from the pulley to the rollers 12of the stationary hanger,V it is simply necessary to tri-p the pawl byrocking it backward by hand, whereupon the spring 24 automatically drawsthe shift-bar 21 into registration with the rollers I2', it beingunderstood that this' lever 30 is alwaysl accessible when needed, forthe reason y that the belt is always on the pulley whe-n it i'snecessaryl to trip: the pawl, whichv latter is located at. theinner-side of the pulley and automatically falls in behind the shift-barwhen pulled out.

What I claim is- A belt-shifting mechanism comprising a fixed hanger androllers thereon for receiving the belt, a tubular' box' on the hangerextending across the face ofE the pulley, a shift-bar guided in the boxand provided with beltshifting arms, a spring forcing the shift-bar inoneV direction, a detent holding the shiftbar against the action of thespring, said detentA being movable to release the shift-barv and apendent cord-operable manually to'move 'y the shift-bar against theaction of the spring. vbelt-shifter bar 21 in one direction to shift.v

2; ln a belt-shifting mechanism, the combination with. a pulley, a xedbelt-hanger at oneend ofthe pulley and provided with a series ofbelt-receiving rollers, fixed supports for the belt-hanger, saidbelt-'hanger being Y provided with a laterally extending arm end issecured to a pin or shoulder 26. which: is

across the face of the pulley, a sl-idable shiftbal" mounted on said armand provided with belt-engaging arms, a pendent cord operable manuallyto draw the shift-bar in one direction,E a gravity-pawl mounted on afixed fulcrurn and engaging said shift-bar to hold it in one of itsadjusted positions, and a spring f for sliding the shift-bar to itsother', or oppo- Y i site position.

3. ln combination with, a revolving pulley and belt thereon, abelt-hanger located at one side of the pulley and provided with aseriesof` rollers concentric with the axis of the pulley, an arm fixed to thehanger and extending across the face ofv the pulley, a shift-bar movableon said arm and provided with belt-engaging fingers, a; spring havingloneA end connected* to the hangerand its other end connected to theshift-bar and operating to shift said bar to move the belt from thepulley to the rollers of the hanger, a eXible pendent cable operablemanually and connected to the shift-bar to move it against the action ofthe spring' and a movable detent for holding the shift-bar in the latterposition.

4. In combination with a revolving pulley, and belt thereon, a fixedsemicircular segment located at one end of the pulley, studs secured tosaid segment and projecting toward the pulley parallel with its axis,rollers on said studs, an arm rigid With one end of the segment andextending across the face ofI the pulley, a shift-bar slidable on saidarm and provided with belt-engaging arms, a spring for forcing saidshift-bar toward the segment, and means for forcing said bar in theopposite direction.

5. In combination With a pulley and belt said bar in one direction,means for shiftingthe bar inv the opposite direction and a movabledetent for engaging the bar and holding it against the action'of thespring.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 5th day of June,1905.

ISAAC S. NEWTON. Witnesses:

H. E. CHASE, MILDRED M. NOTT.

